God Damned Young People Don’t Want to Work!

Back when I was a lad, I was expected to do chores in the morning, go to school during the day and take a job in the evening. I was 7-years old when I got a job at the abattoir sweeping up entrails and I was considered to be a damned late bloomer.

But these young people today? Work is the only four letter word that isn’t in their vocabularies. They don’t want employment – they’re all too busy running around enjoying their youth and having carefree “fun.”

When I was a boy there was nothing carefree about our fun – it was structured and serious, god damn it. Our fun was framing houses, rudimentary blacksmithing and reading books on proper coal mining technique.

But today? Young people don’t take jobs and the few that do don’t hold them. They take a 3 hour a week job at the “Fat Burger” and then either succumb to exhaustion on their first shift or get fired for licking the cheeseburgers and then posting the video on god damned youtube.

Honestly…If I had ever told my old dad that I’d quit my job he’d have held my nose to his grindstone until I lost consciousness from the blood loss.

And even if they do hold a job longer than a week, they take no pride in their work. The young people I see working seem to be on a day release program from the coma ward. They slouch at the service counters with their mouths hanging half open and their eyes half closed. God forbid you should ask them to assist you in finding something. The best you’ll get is a non-committal grunt, a “duh” and an obligatory “huh?”

It’s time for this country to wake up damn it and start taking pride in our work. It’s a national disgrace and if it doesn’t end soon the “Made in America” label will go the way of the milkman, the rotary phone and common decency.

You’re damned right on the gum snapping-cracking-popping too. I was in the hardware store this morning trying to get a gallon of paint (I’m changing my den from “cloud white” to “white cloud”) and the idiot that served me had a mouth full of gum.

Interestingly, she didn’t do any snapping or cracking, just sort of worked it over the tip of her tongue and kept sticking it out at me. She looked like a blue tongued skink for Christ’s sake.

I applied for a job once but I was never called, but I can’t say I tried much harder after that. My dad told me he doesn’t want me working and to keep studying, but I could probably get a job regardless. I always figured nobody would want me, though, since I would always get home at 4PM (5:30 on same days) from school, and since I have a gym membership, that leaves even less time to work (I go to bed at 10PM during the school year).

Nice to see you, lad. I’m not disappointed but I confess to being somewhat surprised. Not even a paper route? I would have bet my last dollar on that one.

Not to worry, though, Gerard. You’re on a good track with proper schooling and a good moral compass. So, I’m sure once you’re studies are done you’ll make up for your lack of work experience pretty damned quickly.

I’ll confess to being confused by something, though, Gerard. I can’t say that I understand this need for a gym membership. Sweeping up entrails gave me all the upper body strength I ever needed and a damned good cardio workout too.

Why do young folks like yourself need to go to a gym when there is ample opportunity to get decent exercise cutting grass, mucking out stalls or working on a loading dock? It doesn’t make a ton of sense to me. Why pay to exercise when you can get exercise at a paying job?

Anyway, good to see you son. I’ve been meaning to ask…what are you hoping to study at college?

As for paper routes, they don’t have paper boys where I live. Everything is done by grown men in vehicles. I would definitely take that job as I’m a good bike rider.

The reason for the gym membership is because I feel that it’s not too easy to get in shape living in an urban environment. I can walk to places, but I wouldn’t really consider much that I do day-to-day as “exercise”. However, my gym membership recently ended. I purchased a weighted vest and have been doing home workouts since then. I’m loving it.

As for college, I’m planning on majoring in Computer Science. I say that I’m “planning,” but I doubt that will change.

I’m long in the tooth but not quite old testament era, son. Still, if I had been alive I’d have been happy to shovel sh*t (sweeping sh*t is an amateur mistake and messy as hell) on the old ark. More than happy.

By the way, I’ve been meaning to pose a question. Should I be worried if I’m seeing sparks when I turn on the bathroom light? I’ve got the knob and tube wiring (stuff was built to last) and am loathe to change it unless I have to. Any thoughts would be appreciated but I’m not paying so don’t even think of trying to bill me.

Back indeed and happy to be home. I didn’t catch any fish but thanks for asking. All I caught was an earful of Hubert’s boring war stories and details of his recent hip operation. I’d forgotten what a pain in the ass he can be if you have to spend more than 10 minutes with him.

And what the Hell do you mean you were licking cheeseburgers? I’ll just have to hope it was some kind of medical school hazing thing.

What a lovely surprise to find you’re back a bit earlier than expected! I hope you are refreshed and not too sunburnt.

…………………………………………….

When I was a wee lass, we weren’t allowed to go outside to play with our friends until all our chores were done around the house. That meant chopping wood and bringing it in, setting or stoking the fires, making our beds, doing the washing up, sweeping the verandahs, raking leaves, helping with the cooking and the weekly wash and the shopping. If chores weren’t done, we didn’t get any pocket money and didn’t get to play.

Recently I had the misfortune to deal with a couple of young whippersnappers supposedly serving in the Chemist. They could certainly see I was looking for something in particular, but do you think they could drag themselves away from their obviously inane conversation?

No.

These young girls were totally rude and unpleasant and quite frankly they both looked like something the cat dragged in. Immediately I could see that glazed look in their eyes, very typical of zombies and when I asked if they had the particular item, they both just looked at me with that completely blank look as if I was the one who had come from a different planet or that I had dog poop on my shoe, and one of them mumbled something (inaudible gibberish) and went back to chatting with her “coworker” and completely ignored me.

Now, I’m not one to cause a scene in public, but I came very close to asking to speak to the Manager.

My time away was quite pleasant and I do, indeed, feel well-rested and refreshed. Hubert talked more than I would have liked and the fish were less than cooperative but the weather was nice and there was a noticeable absence of young people (expect for a handful of morons on seadoos).

I’m not surprised by the treatment you received at the hands of those two young girls. Sadly, I am regularly subject to that sort of insolence, ignorance and damned incompetence.

I seem to spend more times writing letters of complaint about my treatment at the hands of juvenile sales clerks than I do shopping.

Best regards,

Don

p.s. I apologize, Lily, if that damned half-hit, York, said anything untoward or caused you any manner of grief during my absence. He’s always been remarkably tactless and prone to off-color humor.

Lily, I think you meant to write “dearest Yorks” where you wrote, Don. I believe you meant to say “I, personally, think dearest Yorks inherited all the brains AND the good looks in your family. Oh dearest Yorks — how you amuse us all with your dashing looks and urbane wit.”

If by smitten you mean picturing York and I running across the land surrounding the majestic peaks and vistas of the Austrian Alps with open arms singing about a few of my favorite things, then returning to the convent to scold the incorrigible children while the other sisters wonder how to solve problems like Maria…then yes, I guess you could say I was slightly smitten.

But once the meds wore off, it was almost as though it never happened…

It was easy for us to have a work ethic, Don. We had great jobs and we did them because we liked them, not just for the piece of moldy bread we received as recompense. You got to shovel guts, I replaced the turnspit dog when it died from overwork. I pity today’s children who have to work in air conditioned malls for $10.00 an hour. I really do.

Always nice to have you visit. So, you were one of the lucky devils to land a job as “turnspit dog replacement technician.” That was a choice assignment, no doubt about it, and we “entrail sweepers” were pretty damned jealous of it.

Oh sir! Whenever i get an acting job, im ALWAYS hard working. Like you, i do chores in the morning and in the afternoon to help mum out, but during the day is Bob-Time where i find as much work as possible and hone my skills to be a great actor!

One day, i hope to inspire young people like you do, so they can benefit and take pride in their work!

Donald Donald Donald….First off crabby young people should enjoy their youth. I dont want to know a young person that is too serious or thinking about their retirment when they are 20. Yeah young folks dont have the best work ethic, but you grow up sometime. Whe you were coming up you had to grow up a little earlier, those were the times. Your problem guy is that you were always Mr Serious. My advice is this take a break, play hookie, go to the beach in the middle of the work day. you only live once, and you cannot take anything you have with you. When I die I want my last check to bounce and the gas tank in the car to be empty…Zman sends

As usual, a fine comment but not one that lines up with my way of thinking. I’m all for having fun in your youth – but it seems to me that fun can also include some measure of common sense, forward thinking and gainful employment.

I see your point, lad, and I may be Mr. Serious but from where I’m sitting there are a sight too many “Mr. Jokers” running around without the slightest concern about what they are going to do with their lives once they wake up from their 12-year-long high school prom.

(By the way, I’m damned fun. I play Scrabble and Boggle too. Even did the Limbo once)

And, honestly, I hear what you are saying about wanting your last cheque to bounce and have the gas tank empty. And I’d agree with that if you are on your own. But I believe if you have a family, you owe it to them to see that the last cheque clears and that there is plenty left over to help them through the rough patches.

Don! It’s good to have you back! Although I connected with York in a spiritual, not-fully-aware-of-our-surroundings kind of way, I was beginning to forget what the hell these young kids did that was so annoying to begin with. But now that you’ve brought my head back from those giggle-filled, cataleptic clouds, we can get back to business.

Personally, it chaps my ass to see these young kids nowadays incapable of holding down a steady job. Had my boyfriend not had the integrity to quit school and start earning his keep at the tender age of 14, he wouldn’t be where he is today. Which, I’m happy to say, is Assistant Manager at the Tim Horton’s over on Barlow and McKnight Trail.

Not only does he receive competitive wages and free progressive uniforms, he gets a 50% discount on menu items (15% on in-store merchandise). So I guess I don’t need to tell you that when lunchtime rolls around, we’ve always got time for Tim Hortons!

I mean, if he didn’t have the motivation to drop out of school and start paying his dues early on, he’d probably be working at some bacteria infested hospital, dealing with sick people all the time while trying to pay off his student loans. And I ain’t no sugar momma.

Anyway, good to see you, Don…you look like you got some color. Or maybe that’s just my screen.

PS. Please tell York I say “fuzzy wuzzy was a woman/applesauce”. He’ll know what it means.

Always nice to hear from you. I’ll be sure to pass your regards on to York but suspect I will need to exercise some caution. I think he’s gotten himself overexcited and I’m worried that he may have a stroke or fall off his scooter if he doesn’t calm down soon.

I haven’t seen him like this since the 1968 Democratic National Convention (He was a staunch supporter of Edmund Muskie and got very caught up in the convention drama).

And I’m glad to hear you’ve landed yourself a young man. That makes me damned happy, it really does! He sounds like a good lad, Bschooled, but take my advice and go slowly. There is no need to rush and it’s easy for a young lass to fall for a man with a big paycheque, access to discount donuts and a flashy uniform.

You should know that I value your advice more than a lifetime full of creullers, so of course I’ll follow it. Although I’m not sure how much slower we can go since it’s been a month and he hasn’t even felt me up yet. I think he might secretly be Evangelist…

TBD,

Bschooled

Ps.You have to admit that Muskie is a funny name. That’s why I wanted Gerorge Stroumboulopoulos to run for office. I always Imagine the faces on those people who would have to write his name on all those ballots…
Hilarious!!

Don, Don…oh god I’m old…I totally agree with you..I used to work. Started officially getting a paycheck when I was 14. I worked until my new hubby got a new contract and we had to move. In this small town we are in there are no jobs. Taking care of the house and my step son has become my full time job. I hate not working…I miss the time structure and having friends to talk to daily.
My ex hubby hasn’t worked in years. Won’t keep a job, says they are all too hard or don’t pay enough..yeah..walmart isn’t a hard place to work and $13/hr wasn’t shit change. (Jackass) teaching my boys that there is no work ethic anymore. I always remind them not to even think of living with me..Get a job just like I did..Pay your own way..nobody paid mine…my private high school was paid by myself with my afterschool job. Old clothes and older shoes is how that happened. take the damn bus..you don’t need the new Mustang convertible.
God I’m old!!!

Arrrgggg!!! I kinda remember (outside those senior moments) when I got up, did the chores and went to school. Did after school things (Like work in a bowling alley for a buck thirty-three an hour), came home, did chores, had dinner, did homework, and, if lucky (or unlucky if repeats of Lawrence Welk), a half hour of tv.

Now the unaborted get up, text, twitter, go to school, where they text, twitter, get out of school, text, twitter, eat, text, twitter, text-twitter while sleeping, wake up and repeat.

You are god damned funny because you write the plain simple truth. You have no idea how annoyed my friends and I get, when we get crappy customer services. These part-time workers college students will either follow you around like a god damned lost puppy or you wont see them anywhere at all! Probably at the nearest McDonalds having their 1 hour lunch break. Even worst when I get people who can’t seem to do proper maths. Don’t be the god damned cashier if you can’t even subtract 25 from 50! My change is 25 bucks not 15 bucks, damn it! These are the so-called ‘students’.

Hubert’s the fisherman (or at least claims to be) and said we were looking for brook trout. Personally, I don’t think he knows his head from his bass so I’m not putting too much stock in his fish tales. (I should have come to you for advice before I left).

We didn’t catch anything of note but to be honest I probably didn’t fish for more than 3 or 4 hours on the whole trip. Mainly, we just sat out on the porch of Hubert’s lodge, played scrabble, chewed the fat and drank rye.

hey don, you’re back! how the hell are ya? glad to see ya! i see you didn’t miss a beat with this post on young people. i agree however i don’t think this is only young folks. no one takes pride in their work anymore in this country. i wonder how that happened and if it all goes back to good old fashioned american greed? do less make more… see ya next time.

I have to admit I tend to agree. Seems like no one gives a rats ass about work anymore. I’m not sure it’s about greed though. I tend to think it is about a damned feeling of entitlement…people (and young people in particular) seem to think that everything should be handed to them on a silver platter.

I’m telling you Don, I’d do anything for a job where I could actually work. The restaurant business is in a serious slump right now and despite being scheduled 8 shifts a week– 3 of those are doubles so I’m at work all day– I still don’t have enough for my car payment. Everywhere I look is cutting back hours and since I go back to school in less than a month, I can’t really switch jobs.

Sorry to rant at you. I’m actually freaking out about my job right now then I saw your post. This economy just isn’t cutting it.

LOL. As the song goes, “I don’t want to work, I just want to bang on these drums all day.” I hate working but I hate sitting at home twiddling my thumbs more. So I would rather get paid to not enjoy myself.

I am 19. I am from India. And I agree with your views. That’s exactly the problem with damned youth today. They just don’t want to work. It is more like they want to be lazily lying in a corner of their homes or sleep till late in the mornings and do nothing rest of the day. It is like a deterioration of mindset in progress. But we can do nothing about it. At least I try not to be so damned lazy and keep doing something. If need arises, I’d be alright with the idea of working for money. I think we should try and be interested in whatever we are doing, only that may change things.

Hope all is well in India. Never been there but it’s a culture of some interest.

I hope you do find a job that’s of interest, Ravikant. I was fortunate in that regard and held the same job for 40 plus years. It wasn’t always easy and it wasn’t always fun but I did take pride in my work and always tried to do my absolute best.

I have a full time to part time job as a nurse’s assistant. I’m going to college to study nursing (a nice gendered profession for you Don!) My school program has required co-ops for half of the year and the other half we are in classes and clinicals. For my co-op I work full time (usually and then some… I can’t resist the overtime pay, it calls to me), but for the time I am in classes my mother has told me she doesn’t want me to work more than a shift a week! I’d like to work at least 2 or 3 more shifts a week, but the mother’s word is law, after all, though shalt honor thy mother and father is a strictly biblical piece of (damned good) advice.

As far as the made in America label, aside from a select few FORD and GM vehicles, that label essentially went the way of the milk man with our parents generation, and if not my parents, then the generation Xers… they were all to good to work in factories & fields to earn their keep, like the more hard-working generations before them. That’s why all the immigrants are “stealing” the jobs… American’s don’t want them in the first place.

You sound like a sensible lass and I appreciate your stopping in and leaving a comment. I admire both your work ethic and your respect for your mother’s wishes. A fine combination of traits that will serve you well in years to come.

Good luck with your nursing studies – it’s a damned tough job but I’m sure you’re up to the challenge.

Greetings sir. I am deeply concerned about the problems with young people today and where our nation is headed if things don’t change soon. I applaud your efforts as a citizen to alert the community to the seriousness of the situation we face.

I am not a young person, but neither have I attained the level of seniority that would allow me to express my opinions freely to anyone within earshot without an invitation. People would say I was “shooting off my mouth.” That is why I appreciate your warnings to the public. Not that I lack an opinion; if somebody did invite me to speak out, this is what I would say:

The problem with young people today is they buy everything on credit.

Back in my day, we bought everything we needed, and little else, with real money that we earned by doing work. If I needed some spending money for something like a pair of decent shoes, all I had to do was spend a couple weeks in the blistering sun chopping wood, pitching hay, picking berries, and mucking out barns. It was honest work and didn’t hurt me one bit.

But these kids today, if they want to $150 for a new pair of jeans that look like they’ve already been through the Civil War, they just whip out a card and charge it, with no idea how they will ever pay that money back. It’s appalling, but more than that it is a serious threat to our American way of life. Credit crisis? You bet.

Now don’t get me wrong. I know that not all of these kids are credit abusers. Some of them poke in “pin” numbers when they use their cards. That means instead of charging it to their own kids’ generation, they buy the half bushel of potato chips, two liters of cola, and six pound candy bar out of the money their grandmothers gave them for the college education they will probably never finish. But most of these kids are running themselves so deep in hock they will never be able to support their own born-out-of-wedlock children.

In my day, we didn’t spend money we didn’t have. If after a week of back-breaking labor we got paid a few quarters and dimes, we would put them in jars and bury them, because they were made of real silver and we knew damn well this house of greased cards called an economy could collapse at any minute, just like it did in ‘29. Believe you me, if I could remember where I buried just half those jars, I would be one flush pensioner.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying young people should be stingy. Many’s the time I had a few extra solid copper pennies (except during the war, those were zinc), and would spend them on a pack of Beeman’s or Black Jack to share with my friends. But if I ever told my old dad I had charged something, he would have charged my backside with a hundred volts from his surplus hand crank generator and that’s something I would have earned. No sir, in my day, when men charged they did so with swords and bayonets, and it never hurt anybody.

They buy everything on credit. That’s the problem with young people today.

So now you know what I would say, if anyone asked. Keep spreading the good word, Mr. Mills. If you ever happen to be in the neighborhood, stop on by. The coffee pot’s always on, or I could have the wife whip up a cup of Sanka if you preferred.

I have desisted from posting during your piscatorially enforced absence, as I don’t altogether like the cut of your halfwit brother’s jib. He seems shifty, disreputable, and (dare I say it) a tad too DAMN YOUNG for the high office to which you promoted him.

Nice to see you back. I think you made a good choice in refraining from comment during the past week. I’ve just been reading York’s responses and have to say that if I’d been forced to endure one more damned “Tee Hee” or “Hee Hee” I think I’d have lost my few remaining marbles. Next time I’m off I’ll see if my older brother, Elgin, might be free to mind the shop.

I have to say that “piscatorially” was a new one to me. Damned fine word but it does sound a little more foreign that I normally like. I’ll have to use it next time I’m listening to Hubert go on and on about what a fishing expert he is.

And no, sadly, I caught nothing but some bug bites and a little more sun than I needed. A great trip though. Relaxing and nice to get away for a bit.

Welcome back. Please, you must tell me what country you are living. All this time I thought it was just American youth going to pot. I was set to flee my country to one that is strong and capable of defending it in case of attack. I thought the enemy had tinkered with our immunizations and caused all the youth to succumb to lazy, worthless, disresectful, dimwitted, sloppy, disordered, perverted,no-good-for-nothing, never-amount-to-anything, sloths.

Where is it safe?

P.S.

York is a bit too cheerful for this blog. He almost made me forget I hate anyone in the fifteen to twenty-three bracket. We need rage here. Rage, I say.

Your one niave ingnorant guy aren’t you Don. Your outrage blinds you to the fact that its not 1860 anymore and overtime attitudes change, but people are still the same inside. Its your right to say what you want but I would think that over all of your years you may have learned that things change, its human nature to evolve, we’ve found much better ways to live life than were available in your early days. I urge you to get out of your house and talk to young people and see them for who they really are before you get online and just start spewing ingorance based nonsense across the internet. I wish I could get back the time it took me to read this site.

Some harsh words, lad, but I welcome all views. I’ve never been called a “niave ingnorant” before. Is that Latin? Not that it matters – it makes your point well.

I’m confused on a few points, Ryan, and am hoping you can provide me with some clarification.

When you say “overtime attitudes change, but people are still the same inside” are you speaking from a labor relations perspective? Because I’m all for people getting decent wages when they work extra hours.

Or are you speaking from a medical perspective (i.e., people continue to have hearts, lungs and lower intestines)? Or was it something more philosophical you were working toward. “We’re different now but the same. Only different. In a similar way.” Is that what you were meaning? I need some help here, Ryan.

And rest assured that I’ll try to refrain from “ingorance based nonsense” in future and stick to “educated nonsense” or “ignorant truth.”

I’m sorry you wish you could get your time back, son. I’m damn glad you stopped in. Best comment I’ve seen in a long while.

Seriously, though, I appreciate your taking the time. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me and I respect a man who is willing to stand behind his point of view.

To be fair, with the current economy it’s very difficult for young people to find work. Old people get laid off from their office jobs, are desperate to make ends meet, apply for the kinds of menial labor usually considered “Teen” jobs, and get them because they’re older and have had more opportunities to learn how the workforce works.

I’ve been trying to find a job all summer and no one’s called me back yet. It’s quite frustrating.

I’m glad to say that I do my share of the chores, go to college, and work. (Well, technically I have graduated from college, but finding a job is a job in itself, so I can safely say that I work two jobs, and that doesn’t count the fact that I do freelance work as well.)

The job I hold now is part-time, but I get up at 5 am and start work at 6 am. Despite being a female weighing less than 110 pounds, I stand on my feet for 6-8 hour shifts, several days a week, often lifting or pulling things in excess of 40 pounds, not to mention requiring organizational skills, forethought, planning, memory, and the ability to deal with machinery that usually backfires.

Honestly, I’m not the type of person who is comfortable dealing in these sorts of things. My physical strength is very low and I often struggle with my job. I am not very organized, and while I think logically, it is not my preferred method of reasoning. I am an artist and designer, so I am much more comfortable thinking creatively than logically or mathematically as my job requires. Do I complain about it? No. (Well, unless you consider this complaining…)

I’ve been reading through your blog for the last few nights, and I absolutely love your take on the world, Mr. Mills. I would be considered one of the “young people” in the world if you only take into account the age from my birth certificate. However, in other factors, I’m a proverbial stick in the mud and a mother to the core.

I usually stay quiet, content to read your postings and talk to my own Donald about your views and how candid they really are. But this particular posting stuck me in the craw and I decided to make a comment.

“It’s time for this country to wake up damn it and start taking pride in our work. It’s a national disgrace and if it doesn’t end soon the “Made in America” label will go the way of the milkman, the rotary phone and common decency.” (A direct quote from above.)

It is not only the young people anymore making that label disappear. I live in Albuquerque, NM, USA and it amazes and sickens me to see some of the lengths people will go to just to avoid purchasing American goods. Used to be, you never saw a man over the age of 40 in a foreign made vehicle. Here, I am seeing men and women old enough to have served our country in the second World War driving Toyotas and Hondas and Nissans. In fact they are almost more popular with the GM products now. Although, with our government taking a hand there, I’m not guaranteeing that GM is going to be worth much in the next ten years.

I am continually shocked by the lack of intelligence and the sheer ignorance in this country. Put right down to it, when speaking about where I live, I get comments asking if people should apply for a passport to be able to visit me and my family. They are from America. Sometimes neighboring states.

I am a craftsman by trade (and don’t hold with the politically correct bullshit, I’m female, but I refuse to re write the language just because I have breasts) and work in stained glass and candles. It still shocks many many people when I mention that I get all of my supplies locally, from local suppliers. The concept of “Made in America” is very much as dead as romance, chivalry, and common sense I’m afraid.

And as for work ethic? There is very little, and that is everywhere, not just in my age group. I see people in their 40s and 50s who have learned how to exploit the system and get by on government aid instead of trying to go out and bust their very large asses for the money to support the 30 heathen children they popped out. There are days, no, decades that I wish I had been born in a much earlier century. At least then it was legal to smack the morons up side of their very thick skulls. Gods know it wouldn’t hurt them much, but it would damn sure make me feel better.

Oh Janet , once again music to my ear. In Australia we have the same problem. Very few things are now made in Australia and why would they be when China makes them for about 1/10 of the cost? We send everything off shore now which is a crime as all the jobs go with it but, it always comes back to the mighty $$$$
Having said that I don’t always buy Australian made either as I can pick up a T shirt for $10.00 and the quality is fine. Go down to our surf coast and buy the surf range and you’ll pay 3 times as much. Some of it is actually better than Australian made. However I buy locally grown vegetables, fish and chicken. Our fish markets sell Taiwanese fish but I don’t buy that. Nor do I buy anything canned overseas. I get eggs from a local who has free range and try as often as I can to buy Australian in the supermarket. After reading the labels, very few products are ours. It makes it difficult.

I was doing some research for our export vs import ratios here in the states yesterday. We import 2 products to every 1 we export as a general overall. However I’ve found that in things like electronics, we import something closer to 20 to 1.

What is so sad is that America is a huge country, with so many environments that we are able to produce all the food here at home for our own people. Plus have leftovers for export. But I hear frequently that farmers all over the country are having problems selling their crops. And why? Not because the population decreased, or people stopped feeding their faces. No. It’s because we import so much of our own food at a lower cost.

There is a lot wrong here with the economy. We are a people of greed, we want the biggest, the best, the most pay, and the cheapest cost all wrapped into one. We think that giving a larger value behind our dollar sign for the same amount of work makes us a better country and better economy. In reality, raising the minimum wages here was a serious mistake, in my opinion. The resulting cost increase offset any true increase that it would have given. And the sad part? No one seems to realize it. “Oh, we’re doing just fine, but the economy is crap. It all boils down to choice. We don’t like the products America produces, so we’re going elsewhere instead of trying to make them ourselves.” It is turning into sheer laziness.

I guess I am a bit bitter about the whole situation. But stupidity and laziness has never been revered with me. Guess I was raised right by my dad. My only question is to how to start changing this whole mess. Especially with the majority against us. And I know you’re in the same situation there in Australia.

“We don’t like the products America produces, so we’re going elsewhere instead of trying to make them ourselves.” It is turning into sheer laziness.”

Everyone has made some excellent points here. There are some issues that some seemed to have missed.

Back in high school I had to compete with not only other kids-but illegal aliens for the jobs a high school kid could get (no degree,no job experience) I imagine it is the same today or worse with the economy being what it is.

America produces pretty zilch nowadays. There is no steel mill or factory down the road that pays a decent wage.

I wish we could bring back a production base and bring back mentoring and apprenticeships. Today your choices are a low-paying minimum wage job or spend a small fortune on a degree just in time to have your job outsourced to China or India.

The other side is employers who will work you just under 35 or 40 hours a week so they don’t have to pay you overtime or benefits. I at one time had two jobs like that so if I ever was inattentive or “in a coma” it is because I was dog tired from working over 60 hours a week.

I could seriously go on a lengthy diatribe about this but will leave it at that.

By Gum Donald I do like what your saying ! Im from Yorkshire , across the pond as you yanks might say, and the one thing that is lacking in the youth of today is a good work ethic. In my day Don, me and me 12 brothers and me 7 sisters used to get up at crack of dawn to milk the cows and feed th’ chickens . There’d be no way we we’d get out of doing that Don and if we tried we wouldnt get our morning beating. Oh eye Don , no clothes back in my day lad , youd wake up wi’ sun and your da would give ya the morning beating to keep you warm till breakfast , and thats if you were lucky mind! Some days if i hadnt slept for a good 72 hours I would have the cheek to have a quick nap in the hen house, (ohh yes right lazy basterd i were Don, no saving me from satan! )and me da’ ,god bless his soul, would take me outside ,lay me down in field and run me over wit trackter Don , and rightly so. I didnt like it at the time , mind, but its that sort of discipline that kept me on ‘straight and narrow . Ohh eyye I was top class ,me, by the time i started school and it was all down to me Da loving me enough to teach me ways of world. I was proper lucky me, teacher said she’d ‘Never seen a 3 year old work as hard as me!!!’ .
Dam these Youth of today with there ”extended life expectency’ and ‘pursuit of excellence through the medium of higher education’ they should be doing exactly what we were forced to do and what we continue to chose to do as our whole concept of self esteem is based on it. Proper bastards them!!!!

Hi i have read many of the coments here and while i agree a good work ethic is important some of the things i find on here make me worry about how vital this actually is eg:

‘But if I ever told my old dad I had charged something, he would have charged my backside with a hundred volts from his surplus hand crank generator and that’s something I would have earned. No sir, in my day, when men charged they did so with swords and bayonets, and it never hurt anybody.’ (direct quote)
Personally i dont agree with someone (even my dad) beating me up because he doesnt like my choices, and swords and bayonets have hurt alot of people.
The guy who wrote the main thread (Donald ) then posted:
‘That is one damned fine comment, Horace P. Johnson, and I thank you for sharing it with me. You’re 100% correct on all counts. Well said and well done.’
This is not even the most worrying thing I have read on here. I do want a good work ethic and some advice but i wonder how jaded and generationbaly defined this advice will be. Could anyone show me if im missing something ?

I just stumbled across this as I was searching for something else, and I know it started over a year ago, but I just had to agree with you.

Now I’m not that old, and I’m not that young…I’m 32. But I must say that even growing up I thought there was something wrong with the other kids, and it has only gotten worse. Exponentially worse! I had to do chores every day of the week (usually the same ones repeated, because dirt doesn’t just show up once a week). And my mom was really particular about how things got done. There were two ways to do things: her way and the wrong way. I grew up “earning my keep” you see. And I didn’t get paid in money…I got paid by being allowed to survive. Back then I was a little jealous that my friends didn’t have to spend all there time pulling out the couch to vacuum dust bunnies or on their hands and knees scrubbing the wax off the kitchen floor just to turn around and lay a fresh coat, every day. But I wasn’t jealous that they had no pride in their homes. And I see and have the great misfortune of working with young people every day.

They take no pride in their appearance, their possessions, their homes, their jobs, or themselves! The youth of America is headed down a shame spiral! My son is 12 and none of his friends have chores. But they all have cell phones. Can you believe it! My son has chores, by gods. And we don’t give him an allowance either (or a damned cell phone, for that matter). He works for room and board, just like I did. Don’t get me wrong, As long as stuff is clean I’m not going to harp over which end of the house he started the vacuum (that was my mom’s thing), but those chores better be done. When there is some toy or game or whatever that he wants, my first question is, “Do you want it for your birthday or Christmas?” Cause other than that, until he gets himself a paying job (legal age is 14 up here), that’s the only time he’s getting extras.

Now I’ve got friends that say I’m too strict, but they are the ones with kids throwing tantrums in public and what not. My kid doesn’t do that. If he even sighs I say, “i’m sorry, who did you think you were talking to.” He apologized really quick. I taught him as soon as he could understand. When he was a toddler I would ask, “Who’s the boss” and he would reply with a cute little smile, “Mommy’s the boss.”

So it probably isn’t all the kid’s fault now that I’m thinking about it. They are taught how to behave, or not behave; either directly or indirectly. The problem, as my momma used to say, is “No home training!”

I hear you that you want to get better service, but I think your pointing fingers at the wrong people. I’m 33, of the first generation dubbed “slackers” when I was growing up. Funny thing is i’ve never been a slacker – I just have chosen to go my own way because the traditional way was not either rewording and respectful. I spent endless hours of of my youth learning IT related skills. I have a laundry list of technical skills, from installing operating systems, networking, fixing electronics etc. But the thing is, despite a long list of skills, I have NEVER meet an employer that respects those skills and wants to pay anything for them. They just want to exploit the youth without giving anything back. Despite that fact, I work pretty dam hard. As a teenager I worked at several retail stores. One such retail store I worked over 4 years with and built a fairly impressive resume with. I recently went back to interview them, as an adult for part time work. They acted like my previous hard work meant nothing, laughed at me when I suggested getting paid $10/hour (which is what I made with them 10 years ago so basically paying less after inflation), and told me about new policies now micromanage my every move.. and oh by the way we no longer give any commissions.
The point of this ramble is that the companies, being constantly pushed by the stock market to take more and more profit, keep trying to squeeze unnatural profit out of young people instead of encouraging them. So frankly, when you see some snot faced teenager at Walmart who can barely lift a finger, you should consider that they are being perpetually used and abused, and your lucky that they are doing anything for you at all.
Furthermore, most of us are children of divorce, having seen our families in great stress getting outsourced and downsized, and we decided that families come first not corporations.
I’m not saying I’m a victim, in fact I have made an active choice to subsist by doing odd jobs, living simply, and putting my family first.
I just have pretty much opted out of the traditional work until you die, so someone else can get rich scheme because it sucks. I’m working to build something better. So either help us our get out of the way.

When you go down into the tunnels at Disney and discover that the guy in the Mickey Mouse suit is a short, fat, hairy, chain smoking racist, the Disney magic starts to wear off. In the same way, when you discover the truth about modern capitalism, the illusions it creates start to wear off and you are left with the cold, hard, truth.

Modern corporate capitalism is all about exploitation, manipulation and illusion. It’s about ruthlessly exploiting workers and the environment, manipulating employees and customers, and doing it all while making empty promises to the exploited that they may someday become one of the exploiters and reap the benefits. Anybody who still believes that probably thinks they will get rich in the Vegas/NYSE casinos too. They really need to “take the red pill” and wake the hell up.

The reality is that the corporate system is a reconfigured and depersonalized version of the Lord-Serf Feudal system with some outright slavery (regional) mixed in. About the best you can hope for in this deal is that they’ll give you just enough to survive and keep you coming back for more. After all, they do have 6 billion people waiting to replace you.

We all know this on some level, if only subconsciously. Young people are really good at figuring relationships out on a subconscious level and maybe they’ve figured this one out and are responding with the kind of apathy and hopelessness the system gives them.

Even the kids that do have jobs these days, don’t know simple math. Bought a lunch costing $5.72 and handed her $6.00. While ringing this up on the register, I plopped down the 2 cents. Well, the register told her how much change to give me, but the 2 pennies really threw her. I tried to explain, but she didn’t trust me..had to call a manager.

Then, there was the time at the Post Office when the clerk wanted to charge me for international mail because my letter was going to New Mexico.

If we didn’t have our chores done, there was hell to pay…first, by our Mother. Then, she’d tell my Father (or vice versa). Not a pretty sight.

When I got my first “real job” (no more babysitting) working part time at a dime store (remember those?), I was instructed to either put 1/2 my earnings in a savings account or I had to pay room and board. Good lesson…been a saver all my life.

As a young person, I can say that you’re right. I really don’t have work ethic. I’m lazy and a bum, it’s all true. I am running around enjoying my youth. And, well…I’m enjoying it. I wish I could say “sorry I don’t work as hard as you did back then,” but I’m not really sorry. I like my lazy, carefree life. I like work at 9 in the morning and getting off at 1. Some day I’m going to have to work harder, possibly (though I’m counting on winning the lottery. Any day now! I’m sure it’s going to happen soon!) but until then I want to have fun. 🙂

Don’t even get me started on the people my age who not only have no work ethic, but expect others to make up for it. I’ve known at least 3 young people I can think of who are more than capable of working, choose not to, and then complain that they don’t get enough money from the government…

As a relatively young person myself, I find this post quite interesting. I believe that I harbour some views from both sides. That is to say; I understand that there is an emergent stereotype of young people as being lazy, disrespectful and self-entitled arrogant pricks who expect the rest of the world to bend to their every whim. The funny thing is, I’ve seen it myself, and I can’t for the life of me understand why things are that way.

Though conversely, I have also seen parents speaking to their children in a way that I wouldn’t even use towards animals, so perhaps it is a fundamental failure in human relations. If the younger people cannot relate to the struggles of older people they will fail to see the significance; and vice versa. I did not have strict parents growing up, and I was quite spoiled. But they did something more important: talked to me like a real human being and thoroughly explained the reasoning behind their rules and decisions.

I don’t believe myself to fit this stereotype, though it is sometimes quite frustrating as people will have a thousand and one inaccurate preconceptions about you before you open your mouth. But at the same time, a true ‘work ethic’ is something I have difficulty understanding. I have perfectionism on my side, and the requisite stubbornness to ensure that I put my all into everything I try my hand at. But working for work’s sake is something I find stultifying. I have never had the business acumen of others or the entrepreneurial spirit. Rather, I find myself of a more creative disposition. I love life. I love to see things in ways others do not necessarily pay attention to.

Of course, I am stuck in this curious duality. I do take a certain amount of pride in my commitment to doing a thorough job as well as in the skills I have (I work in IT). I also recognise that the society we have built, corrupt as it may be in certain areas, relies on certain cornerstones to keep the world going. But the monotony, routine and banal realities of the working world are an affront to my desire to experience the depth and intensity life has to offer. The fulfilment I feel while working is superficial. I have never felt happier and more liberated than the times I have been able to, for however fleeting a time, believe with all my being that I am not beholden to the corporate institution.

I’m thinking that I might be better suited to the non-profit environment.

I find this post rather interesting. I agree, yet I can’t help but think that how the parents attitude to work greatly influences a young person. As a 17 year old myself, I see how hard my parents work. My dad left school at 16, took out an appreticeship as a joiner and is now running his own small construction company. I see him up untill midnight a lot of nights trying to price jobs up and then up at 6am the next morning. I have my own job waitressing as I am in full time education, and I feel that my dad’s strong work ethic has rubbed off on me. And of my other friends who also work, their parents are hard workers. Then I look at my other friends who don’t work… I am private schooled so for most of them, their parents money is just family money, so their parents havn’t had to do too much work in their lives, and this has seemingly influenced their children as they seem to think that everything will just come to them on a silver platter and that they do not have to make much of an effort. And then I see all the time those young people who are out committing crime and claiming JSA whilst sitting around drinking or on drugs. In most cases, their parents were the same… Do you have any view on this?

Mr. Mills,
I agree wholeheartedly with your explanation on the poor work ethic of today’s youth. I happen to be 16 and, as I consider myself to be a bit old-fashioned, it seems like many young people today are just given a free pass by their parents to laze about and do what ever they please. I have an acquaintance who just turned 16 yesterday and still does not know how to do her own laundry! I can’t remember a time where I was not helping out in the laundry room whether it was folding or loading the machine. My parents have taught me to do things that always seemed normal in our house such as cooking and baking, cleaning, how to tend a yard, properly sew, and act politely in the company of adults, friends, and strangers. If many adolescence where suddenly left one their own I doubt they would even know how to check the car they need to drive to buy groceries for oil!
It is not just work ethic but manners as well. I hardly see the people around me working hard in school to learn, as they only care about the prospect of the shiny A+ their parents care about. I cannot speak for every teenager of course, but I think it is clear to everyone what a majority of young people are like. I actually have my first job interview today, and I am confident that I can do the job well if (when) I attain the position.
Thanks you for the clear picture instead of the coddling towards society many people try to spout.

Maybe because having a good work ethic has nothing to do with life. Working for corrupt corporations and wasting your one and only life for a fiat currency is pointless. Work ethic is just corporations way of saying, “be a good little slave”. I have a poor work ethic and I am proud of so. Look at the people at Enron or any number of corporations who worked their entire lives away for absolutely nothing. What did they get for their good work ethic? Thats why we dont work. We aren’t lazy, its that we saw what money can buy and simply don’t care to have that type of lifestyle. Get it? We don’t want to live how your generation lived. So there is the truthful answer as to why many of us simply don’t work or work very little. Its our choice, we aren’t slaves. … and lets be real, coming from the generation that ran up enormous amounts of debt, allowed Nixxon to take us off the gold standard, started a costly war on drugs, numerous pointless wars, I don’t really believe your generation is any position to look down at the youth… After all we have to clean up YOUR mess, not ours.

The American economy sucks. Employers aren’t offering any jobs. I myself have been on public benefits since 2009 and haven’t had a paycheck since 2007. Temp agencies don’t have jobs. Regular businesses are either going out of business or are damn near close to it. I’d like a job. Working on computers, with computers, working in an office; or something that utilizes my skills with ( what did I just say ? ) computers. Reasonable hours. Reasonable Salary -$12/20 dollars or something. But nope. Every business in my neighborhood is broke. They don’t want people comming in asking for a job. They want customers.

The american economy sucks, and it will continue to fucking suck for a while. At least until voters wake the fuck up and vote for a republican. Mitt Romney wasn’t all that and a bag of chips but at least he knew something about how to get the economy going again. Business. Business equals jobs – which in turn equals prosperity.

What is wrong with the young people of today is they can’t see being old one day will be them; they need to prepare themselves and the world for it. They can’t see it even if it was magnified, but when they get there they are going to be amazed at how big old is, and has always been. What I would like to say to the young is “Get ready, once you get there its a giant of a thing and too big to ever conquer, brace yourself, its waiting for you.”

I couldn’t agree with you more and I’m speaking from the other side of the fence. I’m 23 and even though i didn’t have a “real job” until i was 16 i was raised on a farm in the north west. Long summer days working the orchards setting water lines by 5 am then falling apple trees all fall to prepare for three long cold winter with my grandfather taught me work ethic. I was just a boy but i already knew 110, concrete, framing and finish carpentry. My first real job i worked as a framer and ran circles around the older guys who had been at it for years. The day or shift lead told me to slow down because it made everyone look bad was the day i realized we’re in trouble as a nation. Its up to us the next generation to pull our heads out, shut up and get to work! Nothing in life is free. You have to make it happen or we all fail as a whole.

Don,
I want to work, but employers keep firing me as I have a slight health problem, and do not work fast enough for their likes. I spend my days not going to school (I live too far away and can’t afford gas), watching old films on youtube, reading, and dreaming about one day becoming a productive member of society. Please tell me what an ungrateful scab I am.

Don, I am 35 years old and have always tried to be the best worker wherever I work, I have done many trades. I have a wife and 5 step children. I have worked for $6.25 per hour in a magnitite plant going home blacker than coal miners, having to wash my cloaths with magnets in the washing machine trying to support my family. I am a granite fabricator and installer now. I have worked all over the country and it is the same everywhere from north to south, from east to west. people from 18 to 30 some even older have absolutely no work ethic, no motivation, no mind, etc. Even in wyoming we cannot find anyone to work hard with us. I am a granite fabricator and installer now. Cant even get someone to do that.

I appreciate and agree with you. I own a small business and can’t seem to find anyone who wants to work, even people in their 30’s. They will last for a few weeks and then either call in sick daily, not show up, or resign. They can’t handle actually having to get off their ass to do something. A change definitely needs to happen or this country will continue to go to hell and be worth nothing.

Don,
I agree with you for the most part. I have worked a 40 hour week job since I was 14. I worked, went to school and I took pride in having calloused hands while my peers smoked pot or threw parties. I am now 21 working 3 jobs and going to school to support my family. Kids these days need to work hard and start young. I have never had a boss that didn’t think I was the hardest worker he/she had ever seen. If you get paid for your time you should give them just as much or more. I hope my daughter learns from my experience when she grows up. If she and others do then the next generation will be better than mine was.
-James